Lessons from the fig tree

The USCCB notes that Matthew played fast and loose with times and dates. Interesting take guys, but I can’t say I agree.

“* [21:12–17] Matthew changes the order of (Mk 11:11, 12, 15) and places the cleansing of the temple on the same day as the entry into Jerusalem, immediately after it. The activities going on in the temple area were not secular but connected with the temple worship. Thus Jesus’ attack on those so engaged and his charge that they were making God’s house of prayer a den of thieves (Mt 21:12–13) constituted a claim to authority over the religious practices of Israel and were a challenge to the priestly authorities. Mt 21:14–17 are peculiar to Matthew. Jesus’ healings and his countenancing the children’s cries of praise rouse the indignation of the chief priests and the scribes (Mt 21:15). These two groups appear in the infancy narrative (Mt 2:4) and have been mentioned in the first and third passion predictions (Mt 16:21; 20:18). Now, as the passion approaches, they come on the scene again, exhibiting their hostility to Jesus.

* [21:18–22] In Mark the effect of Jesus’ cursing the fig tree is not immediate; see Mk 11:14, 20. By making it so, Matthew has heightened the miracle. Jesus’ act seems arbitrary and ill-tempered, but it is a prophetic action similar to those of Old Testament prophets that vividly symbolize some part of their preaching; see, e.g., Ez 12:1–20. It is a sign of the judgment that is to come upon the Israel that with all its apparent piety lacks the fruit of good deeds (Mt 3:10) and will soon bear the punishment of its fruitlessness (Mt 21:43). Some scholars propose that this story is the development in tradition of a parable of Jesus about the destiny of a fruitless tree, such as Lk 13:6–9. Jesus’ answer to the question of the amazed disciples (Mt 21:20) makes the miracle an example of the power of prayer made with unwavering faith (Mt 21:21–22).”

So here’s the timeline.

Mark: Mark reports that Jesus is coming from Bethany to Jerusalem the day after the triumphal entry when He sees a fig tree and curses it. Then Jesus cleanses the Temple, evening comes, and they go out of the city. In the morning they see the same tree withered and Jesus makes a parable of it.

Matthew: Matthew reports that after* the triumphal entry, Jesus cleanses the Temple. The next morning, as He’s coming from Bethany on the way back into Jerusalem (returning to the city), Jesus sees a fig tree**, curses it, and makes a parable of it.

*At some point.

**I’d say this is not the first time He encounters the fig tree.

Main idea: There are simply too many ways the data align for one account or the other to be flubbed or fibbed.

If I’d been there, I’d describe what happened this way: Three days, two nights. Triumphal entry, then Jesus stays the first night in Bethany***. The next morning, He curses the fig tree, then He cleanses the Temple, and stays a second night in Bethany. The next morning, Jesus returns to Jerusalem, stops at the same the fig tree on the way there, repeats the curse, and offers the parable.

***Which we don’t hear about in Matthew

In both accounts, Jesus tells the parable about the cursed fig tree on the morning following the Temple cleansing. The only discrepancy is missing data: Matthew doesn’t report on the first time they encountered the fig tree and neither accounts say that Jesus repeated the curse. Missing information isn’t a contradiction. The only real challenge is imagining Jesus repeating the same curse—which isn’t nothing, but I don’t think it’s a dealbreaker for inerrancy.